From the Warzone, Into the Unknown
by PonySpin
Summary: When America's lower class revolts against the Government, and space-time is ripping, and threatens to break, a soldier caught in the middle of it is sucked through a mysterious portal. She must figure out what is happening. maybe even save the world. Rated T for violence and possible mild language.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own MLP: FIM or anything in this story except my OCs**

-Unknown PoV-

I had thought that attacking the "Terrorist" base was a bad idea. I knew something was up. But, as leader of Chinook flight, I couldn't question orders; I just had to carry them out. The job for the helicopters that made up Chinook was to target the AA guns and take them out so the bombers could get through. We arrived at the specified location, and I immediately noticed I had a clear shot at what appeared to be the command tower. I fired a full barrage from my Apache's missile pods. As the missiles streaked towards the tower, a rip in space-time opened up in the path of my missiles. The whole salvo was sucked up. The rip closed as abruptly as it had opened. The assault continued. Hostile fighters streaked towards my teams choppers.

"All TF1 aircraft fall back." I heard over the comms. Before I could follow those orders, a single missile streaked towards me, and impacted. The result was horrifying. At least one rotor blade snapped, and the hit somehow killed my loader, Lt. Anders. The helicopter went out of control and fell. A rip opened up below the chopper, and we fell through it. The world turned black.

I quickly woke up. The helicopter was above a large forest, and descending far too quickly for my preference. I grabbed the joystick with both hooves (?) in an attempt to set her down smoothly. I failed. Before the helicopter ducked below the tree line, I noticed a small town, about a mile to the west of my current location. The helicopter fell and picked up speed. When I hit the ground, I hit hard. The head of the Apache was buried, all four rotor blades were stubs of useless steel, and the tail was ruined. My bird would never fly again. I crawled out of the cockpit, and before I left the body of the wreck, I grabbed Anders' pistol. It had a stylized grip. The artwork was of Princess Luna, from the old TV show, My Little Pony. I twisted on the gun's silencer before getting out of the wreck. I swung myself out of the helicopter, but when I tried to stand, it felt unnatural, and fell back onto all fours. When I looked down at my hands, I found hooves instead. I was royally confused. I heard a roar, and out of the bushes, leapt (no, not Garen) a monster. It had the head and body of a lion, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion. Unless my memory is screwed up, the creature was a Manticore, from Greek mythology. The Manticore looked hungry and to it, I probably looked like a tasty snack. Instead of thinking, I drew my pistol, and put three shots in between its eyes. It died instantly. I stumbled back, shocked at what I had done, because I had never been a good shot. Then, I turned back to examine my new body. Before I could, however, I sensed tow more beings draw near. I drew my pistol and saw, two small dark colored horses with bat-like wings. They reminded me of a Pegasus. I was stuck in a world of Greek Mythology. The two Pegasi separated, and an orb of light appeared between them. The light soon dissipated, and where it had been, was a navy blue, winged unicorn. The unicorn looked quite regal with its mane and tail flowing even though there wasn't a breeze. I looked at the artwork on my pistol's grip, and then at the being in front of me, realized who it was, and fainted.

-Luna's PoV-

The mysterious Pegasus mare in front of our royal self collapsed. He did drop the strange piece of metal she had been holding. We picked it up with magic. It was warm to the touch, and had some truly excellent artwork of our self. It had a long barrel on what appeared to be the front. We decided that we would take the mare, who needed to be taken to the doctor, back to Canterlot castle. I summoned a scroll and quill, and wrote a letter to my sister, Princess Celestia.

Sister,

During the night, my guards felt a strange being enter our world. When I sent two guards to investigate, they signaled me, telling that the mystery pony wasn't a threat. We teleported, and saw an obviously injured Pegasus mare, who was holding a very interesting piece of metal, collapse. Behind her was what appeared to be some kind of badly damaged flying craft. Our guards will bring the mystery mare before she reawakens. We would like to meet you at the castle infirmary.

Luna.

As the letter sped towards the castle, we stood back up, and told the guards to take the mare to the castle infirmary. Mere minutes later, the two guards and I were standing in the waiting area at the infirmary. Sometime during the wait, Celestia appeared.

"How is she doing?" she asked.

"We don't know," We responded.

-Unknown PoV-(same as earlier)

I woke up slowly. As I slowly sat up, I stretched; checking to make sure nothing was broken. Then, the memories came back in a flash, and I panicked, if only of a few seconds. After calming down, I decided to examine my new body. As I turned my head, I saw my pilot's helmet on the bedside table. I had changed with me apparently. Next to the helmet was a mirror. I gazed into the mirror, and staring back at me was a sandy blonde mare, who had piercing gray eyes. My black, shoulder length hair was sitting atop its head. Looking away, I quickly unzipped my jet black bodysuit, which was standard issue for all Empire pilots. Ripping the bodysuit away, I examined myself. The sandy blonde coloration was solid, as was the jet black hair. I also had a pair of fairly large wings. Looking farther back, I saw my cutie mark. It was my leather pilot's helmet (humanized) on top of the four rotor blades of my Apache. I climbed out of the bed, only to once again panic. This time, it was because I was out of balance standing on two legs. After quickly calming myself, I noticed that a familiar face had entered the room.

The navy blue figure looked down at me, and asked "Who, or rather, what are you?"

My response was short and sweet. "My name is Emily Darkhound, and I am, err, was a human. I am the pilot of Chinook 1, of the 502nd airborne division of the American Governmentalist Empire."

**Sorry about the short chapter, it's my first story, and I'm not a very good writer yet. Sorry...**

**TBC, hopefully. Please R&R. constructive criticism is always appreciated.**


	2. Dreams

**Thank you to all of my readers, and please leave constructive criticism in the reviews. I do not own MLP: FIM, if I did I would be rich…**

Ch. 2: Dreams

That night, I slept soundly… at first. Then, I started dreaming. The first dream was watching an air battle from the ground. A flight of attack helicopters was attacking a town. The AA guns roared. Fighter jets streaked towards the helicopters and opened fire. The helicopters started turning to run. A soldier near where I was standing hefted a FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missile launcher. Locking on to one of the slower turning helicopters, he fired. The rocket hit on the upper hull of the helicopter, and broke at least one rotor blade. The helicopter fell, and then disappeared. I then realized that I had viewed my "death."

The dream changed. Now, it was of my little sister, Amy, going on a hike to who knows where. She was carrying my rucksack on her shoulder. On her hip was her stylized USP .45, which looked like a magnum from Halo. She was wearing her SkullCandy headphones. Four soldiers leapt out of the bushes. They opened fire on Amy. She dove forward and killed one soldier with a headshot. Rolling sideways to avoid some bullets, she killed a second one. The third soldier put a few rounds through her left shoulder before dying to a headshot. Turning towards the fourth soldier, she took aim, but before she could shoot, bullets tore through her chest. The fourth soldier died with five rounds in his chest.

The dream changed again. This time, I was standing on a cloud, this is normal for a Pegasus, but so were humans. The humans seemed to be fighting mysterious dark forms. A flaming helicopter crashed into a cloud next to mine. I flew over to it. Out of the cockpit hatch climbed a tall figure wearing an all black bodysuit, and a leather pilot's helmet. She was wielding a pair of auto pistols. The pilot opened fire on the dark forms as they rushed the helicopter. The bullets, if that's what they were, shredded the dark forms ranks, literally. One shot took at least a dozen dark forms. Eventually her clips ran out of ammo. When they did, the pilot bent down to pull someone out of the helicopter. While she turned, three shot rang out. All three were headed straight for her back. Before the shots hit, I woke up.

Standing above my bed were two figures. One I recognized as Luna. The other was taller than Luna, was an Alicorn, and was pure white. "Who is this, Luna?" I asked, if slightly rudely.

"This is my sister," the princess replied, "But that isn't important right now. What is important is what was happening in your dreams,"

I paused to think before replying: "The first was my apparent 'death' on Earth. I was in the helicopter that was hit by the rocket. The second was my sister being ambushed by soldiers of the faction I fought for. I believe that she was journeying to the rebel base near where we had lived. I have no clue what the third dream was, but a helicopter that looks like my crashed one was shot down, and swarmed by some dark forms,"

Luna nodded, and her sister muttered 'Interesting' just loud enough for me to hear it. The two Alicorns left the room. With the room empty, I noticed that it was still night. I closed my eyes and was soon sucked into the abyss of sleep. I had hoped for pleasant, even dreamless sleep, but somepony was apparently not done with their new favorite toy.

The new dream appeared to be aboard an airship. Two mares were watching a dogfight a ways away. One of them kept an eye on the comms while the other watched the radar. A new signal was coming from inside the ship. I could hear some static coming from it. A knock was heard from the door. One of the mares opened the door, probably expecting a friend or two. Instead three ponies wearing black armor entered the room. The other mare summoned some holographic guards, probably as security measures. The three didn't attack; instead, they let a fourth stallion through the door. This newcomer stared at the two mares, and the turquoise mare gritted her teeth.

"Razor Whisk. When and how did you get in here?" asked the turquoise mare, who pulled a weapon out of a drawer.

Razor Whisk gave a wolfish grin. "That's a good question young mare." He showed a glowing ball on his hoof. "Thanks to my scientific days."

The other mare glared at him. "You have ten seconds to leave or these holograms will give you a bad time of your life." She warned.

"Just like these girls will if you attack?" Razor Whisk moved out of the way and saw four mares, two unicorns and two Earth ponies tied up and taped on their mouths. "I'm mostly talking about…" He dragged in a mare who was dark blue coated. "Princess Luna."

Luna looked around her and saw the two mares. She gave them a look of her showing fear. She couldn't speak or move because she was tied and gagged as well.

"I will leave. But we have to take Luna with us." Razor Whisk gave a serious look as his sharp mane covered his left eye. "And if it makes you feel good, I didn't do anything on this carrier besides getting your second ruler." He talked truthfully. The turquoise mare knew he wasn't lying since she knew him back then.

"You're not taking anyone." The other mare growled.

Razor Whisk took out a small spear and pointed it on Luna's neck. She shook in fear and could feel the spear's pain thirsty point. "You either say us goodbye with Luna alive, or she loses her life."

The turquoise mare nervously stared at Luna who was about to pass out in fear. She had a very difficult choice to either let Razor Whisk escape with Luna or Luna gets a last breath in. the other mare looked at her and frowned and nodded, saying they had no choice.

"Fine." She looked down in defeat.

As this 'Razor Whisk' left, the dream changed for a fourth time.

This time, four equines ran out of a door onto a platform. There were two Alicorns, a unicorn and a changeling. One Alicorn, a disheveled Luna was leaning on the other for support.

"This is colonel HandyFlash, requesting evac from the Blue Scythe," The cyan Alicorn said, probably over a comm channel.

Over the comms, I could hear my voice saying "This is Quill 1-2, you boys need a lift?"

The whirring of helicopter blades filled the air as a helicopter that looks suspiciously like mine rose up to be level with the platform. One of the side bay doors opened up, with a large navy blue colored stallion standing in the hatch. The unicorn and changeling jumped in, but before the Alicorns could, an explosion rocked the structure, and the platform was blasted in half. The helicopter bay door closed and the chopper had to bug out to avoid the falling debris. As the two Alicorns turned around, I woke up.

Realizing what I had witnessed was Luna not being saved twice; I made it my personal goal to keep her safe. I then hauled myself out of the bed. On the table next to the bed was my helmet. I put it on and then flicked through the displays. I deleted the 'current mission' as I was probably officially 'dead' on Earth. I then found my music. Most of it was by my favorite author, Blackmore's Night. I selected one of my favorites, 'Diamonds and Rust.' I sang along.

Well I'll be damned  
Here comes your ghost again  
But that's not unusual  
It's just that the moon is full  
And you happened to call

And here I sit  
My hand on the telephone  
Hearing a voice I'd known  
A couple of light years ago  
Heading straight for a fall

As I remember your eyes  
Were bluer than robin's eggs  
My poetry was lousy you said  
Where are you calling from?  
A booth in the Midwest

Ten years ago  
I bought you some cufflinks  
Oh and you brought me something  
We both know what memories can bring  
They bring diamonds and rust

Well you burst on the scene  
Already a legend  
The unwashed phenomenon  
The original vagabond  
You strayed into my arms

And there you stayed  
Temporarily lost at sea  
The Madonna was yours for free  
Yes the girl on the half-shell  
Would keep you unharmed

Now I see you standing  
With leaves falling around  
And snow in your hair  
Now you're smiling out the window  
Of that hotel  
Over Washington Square  
Our breath comes out white clouds  
Mingles and hangs in the air  
Speaking strictly for me  
We both could have died then and there

Now you're telling me  
You're not nostalgic  
Then give me another word for it  
You are always so good with words  
And at keeping things vague

Because I need some of that vagueness now  
It's all coming back too clearly  
Oh I loved you dearly  
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust  
I've already paid

Diamonds and rust  
Diamonds and rust  
Diamonds and rust

After the song wound down, I burst into tears. The song brought back memories of good times, of bad times, of Amy, and of how I broke my last promise to her.

[Luna's PoV]

Emily's singing was beautiful. I could feel the emotion she put into her singing. I could also tell that the song, or the memories it brought back hurt her. When she stopped crying, I stepped into the room.

"Are you okay?" I asked, easily slipping out of my archaic speech.

"I'm *sob* fine," Was the response, "The song brought back memories of my sister, Amy, and how I failed her,"

"Telling somepony what's wrong usually helps ease the pain," I said, feeling pity for the mare.

Emily wove a yarn of how the war in her world had started, political corruption, her family being threatened if she didn't help the war effort, and her parents killed. What had been told as a 'Terrorist' attack on a hospital was actually their own government going through with a threat, killing hundreds in the process. I was horrified. But what came next was worse. The government had ordered 'bombing runs,' whatever those were, on civilian towns.

[Emily's PoV]

I told Luna my tale. I told from the beginning, to my final mission. I told her about how Mom and Dad had been murdered. Throughout the whole ordeal, Luna looked horrified. I was about to tell her about the other two dreams I had had last night, but decided against it, not wanting to worry her.

**Dreams 4 and 5 are scenes from Air Horse Aces, by HFHoofhammer. I used these with permission. The song is Diamonds and Rust, by Blackmore's Night. I do not own these.**

**Please leave a review with what you think and some constructive criticism.**

**PonySpin out!**


	3. Memories

**This chapter is a week early because I will be out of town the week when I would usually post it.**

**I do not own MLP: FIM or anything in the story except My OC's… and maybe a few other things from early on. And now, here is chapter three: Memories.**

Ch. 3 'Memories' [Third person]

Emily was driving along the highway with a load of groceries in the pickup's cab next to her. The radio was playing classic rock. Her cell phone rang. Turning off the radio, she put it on the U-Connect.

"Yello," she answered.

"Em, is it a bad time?" asked the caller, who was revealed to be Colonel Gavin 'Handy' Flashe.

"It's not bad, but it's not great. I've got a load of groceries on board, and they need to be put away. What's up?"

"We've got a new mission. Command wants us a base in 45 for briefing. Guess who is in charge of the mission,"

"Natasha?"

"Nope, Darius,"

"Great. See you in 45,"

"Tell Amy I say hi," With that, the Colonel hung up.

Emily groaned. She was five minutes from home, and she had a twenty minute jog to McCord airbase. That left her with twenty minutes to unload and put away her groceries, as well as get something to eat. Groaning again, Emily turned the radio back on. AC/DC's 'Highway to the Danger Zone' was playing.

Five minutes later, Emil stepped out of the F-150's cab and pulled out the first two grocery bags. As she walked inside, she saw her little sister, Amy, playing Halo Reach on the outdated X-Box 360. Emily was surprised that the Reach online servers were still online. Emily walked to the kitchen and set down her bags. She then picked up the TV remote and walked back to the living room.

"Amy, pause the game and come help unload. I've gotta be at the base in 40 for briefing. Oh, and I have the remote to just turn off the TV. Gavin says 'hi,' "

Amy muttered something, but got up to help.

Emily set down the unneeded remote. She walked back into the kitchen and put some water in a pan and put it on the stove to boil. She then walked back outside to help Amy unload the groceries. By the time the groceries were unloaded and put away, 10 minutes later, the water was boiling. Emily hastily threw together a box of Mac-&-Cheese. Another seven minutes later that was done. Emily grabbed a spoon, grabbed the pan of food and walked back into the living room. Emily sat down on the couch to watch Amy playing Halo Reach. Amy was being a badass and playing a round of Infection. A few minutes later, Amy had won the match, and Emily was finished with her Mac-&-Cheese. Emily checked her watch. She had just less than the twenty minutes she needed to jog to McCord Airbase.

Emily swore, put the empty pan into the sink along with her spoon, said a good bye to Amy, and then hauled ass out of the house. While the base was only a few miles away, Emily always tries to jog there. She had about a ten minute mile.

Eighteen minutes and thirty seven seconds later, Emily arrived at the base. A familiar face walked towards her. Colonel Gavin Flashe greeted her and walked with her to the briefing room.

"You're almost late, Dusty, but I told command to wait until you go there," The Colonel explained.

Emily grimaced at the mention of her nickname, Dusty. It had been earned in boot camp. Her first time in a helicopter, She had set the rotor speed to max. The rotors kicked up enough dust when she lifted off to cause a half hour long dust storm. The training sergeant had given her the nickname as well as calling her a natural when she had landed.

Emily flashed back into reality as she and Handy walked into the briefing room. Emily grimaced again. In the middle of the room, two generals were arguing. General Darius Covington was in the heated debate with General Natasha 'Neon' Nimbus. Natasha appeared to be winning the argument. When both Generals noticed the new arrivals, the argument broke off.

"Major. Colonel," Darius greeted them, as Natasha stalked off to a seat.

Emily and Gavin nodded at Darius in acknowledgement before walking over and taking a seat on either side of Natasha, who was fuming. Emily gave Gavin a worried glance, which he returned. Neither one had seen the General this angry.

With everyone present, Darius started the briefing. When the display board behind him lit up, all of the command elements, besides Natasha, gasped. The target for the mission was one of the TAFF's most fortified bases, Vancouver.

"Tonight, at 21:00, the ERAF will make a tactical strike on Vancouver. This assault will take the form of two waves," Darius started, "Wave one will consist of Major Darkhound's Assault helicopters and some of Colonel Flashe's fighters. With the fighters giving them support, the helicopters will search out and destroy the AA defense guns," Before the general could continue, he was interrupted by Emily's hand shooting into the air.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" she asked.

"Permission granted,"

"What are you smoking, sir? You are saying that my helicopters will have fighter support, but the only good pilots we have are either somewhere else, wounded, or are Veloces Squad, who are too important to risk on Vancouver. Hell, even with our whole air force, Vancouver, or any other FF fortress is a suicide run. But, that's what you want, isn't it. Everyone in here knows of how you Army types hate General Nimbus, Colonel Flashe, and me. But even for you, isn't killing off Veloces Squad, Chinook Flight, and Neon's bombers a little much? You just want us out of the way so you can roll in your tanks and take all the credit. Anyway, please, continue,"

Emily's accusations struck home. Everyone in the room knew that they did by the way the Darius cringed with each sentence. He still tried to continue with the briefing unfazed. He only had partial success.

"As the major accurately guessed, the second wave will consist of General Nimbus' bombers and Veloces Squad. As soon as the helicopters return, wave two will start their attack run. The bombers will rain hell on Vancouver while Veloces' aces provide support. The assault will begin at 21:00, go and get ready. Dismissed,"

Colonel Handy looked at his two companion's faces and realized that he was royally screwed. He now had two pissed off women to deal with. He watched as Emily stormed off to who knows where. Natasha threw him a glare before stalking out of the room after Emily. Someone got on the PA and started telling squads or flights to go to this room or that room. Gavin heard Veloces Squad to room 312 for briefing. He grabbed the few things he had brought and headed to room 312 where his squad should be waiting.

General Natasha 'Neon' Nimbus was furious. She could not believe that high command would let an Army General tell the ERAF what to do. Especially when said Army General was pigheaded, and had a grudge against some fairly important members of the ERAF. Natasha paused to send the woman on the PA a text telling her to announce 'All bomber crews to Hanger 7.' The general started in that direction. She was the first one there.

Emily tried to stay calm. She almost succeeded. She just could not believe that the pigheaded bastard actually thought he could get away with killing off Chinook Flight, Veloces Squad, and Neon's Bombers all in one fell swoop. The Major heard Chinook Flight to room 117, but before she headed that way, she stopped in the nearest bathroom. There, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Amy's number. Amy didn't pick up immediately. The call went to the answering machine.

"Hey, it's Emily," She began when Amy picked up.

"What's up, Em?" Amy asked.

"Bad news. Gen. Darius gave us a suicide mission. It's in Vancouver. We're going Case Red. You know the drill," With that, Emily hung up. She then left the bathroom and headed towards room 117, where the rest of Chinook flight should be waiting.

Two hours later, everyone in McCord Airbase who was involved with the attack on Vancouver knew what their job was. Members of Chinook light and Veloces Squad were fairly nervous about the impending suicide run. For some, a suicide run was a chance to take as many enemies as possible with them.

The next four hours were spent preparing for the oncoming storm. Flight suits were donned. Ammo was loaded along with fuel. When the hour was upon them, the helicopters of Chinook, along with a dozen fighters, left quietly. There was no send off with hopes to return, everyone knew it was suicide.

In the command room, General Natasha 'Neon' Nimbus and Colonel Gavin 'Handy' Flashe watched on the aircraft's onboard cameras. They watched as the dozen fighter jets were shot down, one at a time. Soon only the helicopters of Chinook Flight were left. From Chinook Two's camera, they watched as a barrage from Chinook One disappeared.

Over the comms, Natasha made a call. "All TF1 aircraft, fall back,"

The two commanders watched as a lone missile streaked towards Emily's helicopter as she turned. It hit on the upper hull, right below the rotor. A critical hit. The helicopter fell but its fate could not be seen as the last survivor turned away. Gavin radioed Emily's second in command, who told him that only a few AA guns had been destroyed. Natasha got on the general comm channel and told everyone that the attack was off.

Later that night there was a mourning session for the fallen soldiers. The casualties were twelve fighter pilots, Major Emily 'Dusty' Darkhound, and Lt. Robert Anders.

**Note: I do not own Colonel Gavin Flashe or General Natasha Nimbus, they are humanized versions of HandyFlash and Neon Nimbus from HFHoofHammer's Air Horse Aces.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm back! Sorry that Ch4 is a little small and was a little late. Writers block.**

Later that day, I decided to explore part of the castle. I hauled myself out of bed, and walked over to the door. The closed door did not seem to have a handle, or at least a visible one. "Screw it," I muttered to myself before shouldering the door open. I stepped out the door and looked to the left and the right. To the left was a spiral staircase going up, and to the right was one going down. Turning left I proceeded to take the upwards staircase. After a few stairs, I stopped. My body movement was feeling way too natural for being maybe, three days old. Maybe the change had made this my natural body, not a human one. I thought about it for a moment, then decided it wasn't worth my time right now and continued on.

At the next landing were two doors. One, I assumed led to a platform outside. The other looked much newer. This one hadn't even been painted yet. The newer door struck my curiosity. Opening the door with the same shove as before, I saw a plain room. On one side of this circular room were two bookshelves, and between them was another door. Across the room from the second door and bookshelves was a bed frame. No mattress yet. Nothing in the room really caught my eye, besides the door. So, I walked over to it and shoved it open. When my foot went over the threshold, it landed on air. The wings, which I didn't know I could use, flared open. The wings gave me a push away from the door. I was even more curious, but that could wait, for now.

I turned around and started to walk towards the door to the hall. Upon looking up, however, I halted. Standing in front of me was the white Alicorn from earlier. "Hello, Emily. What a pleasant surprise seeing you here. This is going to become your room when it is complete," She said.

"Who are you? How do you even know my name?" I asked. I was shocked that she knew my name. Who the hell was she? Why was she even here? All these questions and a few others flew through my mind.

"My, my, my," She said. "For being such an intelligent species, you sure can be slow sometimes. My name is Princess Celestia; I am the raiser of the sun and ruler of Equestria. As for your name, I heard you be called that in your dream. Come with me, please, I have something I would like to show you," Celestia walked over to me. She put a leg over me, in a hug. I looked up to see an aura encasing her horn. There was a flash of light. I was temporarily blinded.

When I regained my vision, the Princess and I were standing in front of a small stand. A white unicorn with bright blue eyes was behind the stand. He looked up from some paperwork on the stand. "Hello, Princess," he said.

"Shining Armour, this mare would like to join the ESOF. She is highly skilled with firehoofs," Celestia said.

"What's your name, miss?" he asked me.

"Dust Storm, Major Dust Storm of the ERAF. At your service," I replied. Celestia threw a glare at me. I didn't know where Dust Storm came from, but it felt right.

"A Major? What is this ERAF anyway?" Shining Armour was obviously confused.

Celestia looked like she was about to speak, but I beat her to it. "That's classified, Commander,"

"Well then, let's see what this mare can do,"

There was another flash of light. I'm pretty sure the flashes of light are teleports, but I'm not entirely sure. After I regained my vision, I looked around. Celestia, Shining Armour, and I were now at a sparring ground… I think. Shining walked over to a pair of wooden, Kendo looking swords. His horn glowed with a pinkish color and a sword levitated to me. It dropped in front of me. I grabbed the sword with my hoof. Shining picked his up with his mouth.

The sword felt odd in my grip. It was an unfamiliar weight. Before I could get a chance to familiarize myself with it, however, Shining Armour attacked. His strike was fast and hard. I leapt back, barely dodging the attack. I blocked the second strike, and tried to counter strike, but failed. The next minute was full of me dodging and blocking. I couldn't get a single hit in on him. Then, I saw an opening. As I lunged in, the blade fell from my grip. I ducked under Shining's counter strike and picked up the fallen sword… with my mouth. I swung at Shiny with all my might. He backed away from my swing, then ducked in and got a solid hit on my left shoulder. (Dammit, Josh) There was a loud snap, and I collapsed in pain. My sword fell, and I heard Shining Armour mutter "Oh shit," before blacking out.

"Welcome to the ESOF-N, Ma'am," was the first thing I heard when I awoke. I opened my eyes and looked up. Standing at the foot of the bed I was in, were Luna and Shining. I tried to move my forelegs, but my left one wouldn't move. I glared at Shining. While he seemed unfazed, I knew that inside, he was quivering in fear. Anders, my late co-pilot had compared my glare to 'The Stare,' whatever that was. I turned my gaze to Luna. She started shaking as soon as we made eye contact. I will assume that was from the sheer malice and hate in my eyes.

"Um, Emily, would you please stop using a version of 'The Stare' on me?" Luna asked.

My gaze softened. I turned to Shining, "Commander, do you believe that your soldiers are ready for war?" I asked him. He shook his head. "Have you ever seen war?" He nodded. "I don't believe you. Have you had your family murdered, because you wouldn't enlist? Have you been ordered to kill civilians, who may or may not have been sheltering supposed terrorists?" He shook his head again, this time fearful. "I have. So, until you have seen the atrocities I have, I will not listen to your orders. While your world may be green and colorful, where I come from, it's a world of stone,"

I hauled myself out of the bed. My left shoulder hurt like hell, but I limped along to the door. Shoving the door open, I looked around. Directly across the hall was a map of the barracks. On room 312B, Dust Storm was displayed on a bunk over the letters CO. A soldier ran past, and I stopped him. "Soldier, could you please direct me to room 312B?" I asked him.

"Sure thing, Ma'am. Go down this hall, and take a right. It'll be on the left, about halfway down,"

"Thanks," I took the soldiers directions, and sure enough, 312B was right there. I opened the door, only to see a pair of ponies beating up a Pegasus. The two mud brown Earth Ponies stood over the emerald green Pegasus, with a look of sheer dominance on their faces.

"BREAK IT UP!" I shouted. "You, and you, get off of him," I ordered the two earth ponies, "And you, get over here," this was pointed at the Pegasus. He walked over to me, limping slightly. When he reached me, I examined him with my good forehoof. "Nothing's broken. Nothing's sprained. Dislocated shoulder. Nothing too serious,"

"Nothing too serious? How is a dislocated shoulder nothing serious?" the Pegasus asked me.

"It's easily fixable. Now, bite on to something. This may hurt a bit," I told him. He bit a ladder rung as I shoved the joint back into its place.

"Sweet Celestia that hurt. How did you do it?"

"Easy. The joint in your shoulder was just a bit out of place. I shoved it back in,"

"Oh, I should have known that. My name's Emerald Night, by the way,"

"Major Dust Storm, your new CO,"

**I have decided that I will take a few OCs and put them in the story. Here's the ones so far:**

**HFHoofHammer: **Gavin 'Handy' Flashe, Natasha 'Neon' Nimbus

**emerald night the alicorn: **Emerald Night

**PM me if you want your OC in the story.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch 5,**

**I don't own anything in the story except for my OC's. Most of it belongs to Hasbro.**

In the days after, I learned who everypony in barrack room 312B was. The four others were a unicorn, a Pegasus, and a pair of 'earth ponies,' as I learned they were called. The unicorn, Mystic Rage, had a crimson red coat, with a brown mane and tail. He was a weak spell caster, in the way of unicorns, but if he gets pissed off or into a fight, he'll fight like there is no tomorrow. One earth pony's name was Mud Splash. With his mud brown coat, mane, and tail, he was pure apathy and laziness. The other earth pony, Razor Blade, was a trouble maker. He was the one who picked on the resident Pegasus. Emerald Night had an emerald green coat with a gecko green mane and tail. Emerald's main problem was his obvious lack of trust. He needed a friend. I tried to fill that position, seeing as A, we were both outsiders, and B, this would probably be the only way to get the others to stop picking on him. My attempts mostly failed miserably, and they drove him farther away from me. To me, room 312B was an Island of Misfit Toys. I doubt anypony would get that reference however.

On the fourth night, just after I hit the lights, I heard some noise from the bunk above me. Emerald Night was moving around, obviously doing something after curfew. I groaned. Emerald hadn't gotten beat up today, so he couldn't be trying to get comfortable with bruises. What else could possibly be so important, or secret, that he couldn't wait until morning? Deciding to see what the outcast was up to, I climbed out of the ten foot (or so) long bed. Why are the beds so long? I looked up and saw the faintest trace of light coming from his bunk. 'What the hell? The ponies have flashlights?' Was all I thought while I climbed up the ladder to his bunk. Looking down, I saw a drawing of Luna, one as good as some artists on Earth could have done. I also saw the edges of a few sheets of blue parchment. Emerald was drawing on one. I started to climb up, and reveled in how good my stealth training was… 'Wait, what stealth training? All I've done in the last six days is crash my helicopter into an unknown world, become the guardian of a princess, join a second military, become CO in a barracks room, and learn how to fight like a Pegasus. Where does Stealth Training fit in there?' Somepony is probably having a field day, messing with my head…

I backed back down, onto the ladder, deciding not to use stealth training that I both remember and don't remember. I loudly whispered to Emerald, "Psst! Hey, Emerald, what are you doing?"

Emerald's head shot up. He looked back, with a pencil in his mouth, and shot a glare at me. He then realized who I was, and the glare softened. "Oh, hi Dust. Whatcha' want?" he asked through the pencil

"If I could get a look at what you're working on, that would be great,"

"Heh," he chuckled, before pushing over one of the drawings. It was blueprints for a tank. "It's an experimental design I've been working on," On the top of the blueprint was the name 'E1P5 MBT'. I didn't know much about tanks, being a fly-girl myself, but it looked like an M1A1 Abrams.

"What's this?" I asked him, suspiciously.

"This is a heavily armored and armed war carriage,"

"So, a tank. A war machine. Used in modern warfare on Earth. Where did you get the idea for this? This is the first of them I've heard of in peaceful Equestria."

"I'd rather not say where. However, since you mentioned Earth, I'll tell you. Plus, I've seen your picture. When did you come through?"

"How did you see that?" The picture in question was one of Me, Amy, and our parents, a year before the war. I was a graduating senior at my high school, and Amy was entering freshman year. Everyone looked so happy. Who are you, and how do you know about earth?" I asked him.

"I am, or rather, was a human. I don't remember my human name. All I do remember really is that I was betrayed by my best friend. He blew up my tank, and the explosion threw me through a portal to here. It was 2012,"

"Oh, wow. Major Emily Darkhound, former helicopter pilot in the Empire's Royal Air Force, Shot down over Vancouver. It was 2018,"

"The Empire's RAF?" He asked, incredulous.

"Yes, in 2015, the American Government was overthrown, and in its place was the American Governmentalist Empire. A rebel group sprang up almost immediately, and they fought back. The 'Emperor' started conscripting. These conscripts would be the backbone of his army, used to crush the rebels. The war has been going on for three long years and doesn't seem to have an end in sight. We're at a stalemate,"

"Oh…"

With that, there was a moment awkward silence. I climbed down from where I was half hanging, and pulled myself onto the **really **long bed. Seriously, who designed these things? They're between ten and a dozen feet long, while even the tallest pony isn't longer than six lying down.

I pulled myself under my blankets and was soon sucked into the abyss of sleep. There were no pleasant dreams for me, only nightmares. Nightmares of an odd creature, a mix of sorts. This creature was causing chaos through the streets.

In the morning, I woke up with a disheveled mane, and the sheets were scattered across the **really **long bed. I couldn't remember my dreams except for the odd creature. The dreams must have been horrible with that creature in them. I quickly cleaned up my bed, and then set off at a trot towards the mare's room, where I spent the majority of an hour trying to get my mane to look acceptable. When it looked acceptable, I walked back to the barracks, where I found everypony getting up and ready for the day. I had only walked over to my bunk and sat down, when a Pegasus burst into the room with a note for me. She gave it to me before dashing off.

The note was from Shining Armour. It said that I was being moved to Ponyville, the town a few miles away, in the valley. The ESOF was making a new garrison there, and I, along with two others, were going to be in charge. I could pick the two coming with me. I already had made my choices.

**I know the chapter was weak, but there's not much I can do about it. Sorry.**

**Thanks to ****emerald night the alicorn for Beta-ing this chapter**

**Oc's:**

**My OC's: **Emily 'Dust Storm' Darkhound, Amelia Darkhound, Mystic Rage, Mud Splash (Grif), and Razor Blade

**HFHoofHammer: **Gavin 'Handy' Flashe, Natasha 'Neon' Nimbus

**emerald night the alicorn: **Emerald Night

**If you want your OC in the story, send me a PM or post a review with the info.**


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